TACH SPECIAL: NASCAR Listens To The Fans

The 2000 NASCAR Winston Cup season is winding down and the series has
already crowned their champion. None the less the series officials have
been preparing for the 2001 season since the middle of July. One of the
areas that NASCAR has been addressing is the aerodynamic and restrictor
plate racing sector.

Think back to the season opening race at the Daytona 500. It was, without
a doubt, the most boring race of the 2000 season. The "Shock Absorber 500"
,as some fans called it on the way out of the grandstands, was exciting
for the last ten laps. In the prior 190 laps it was a race, with apologies
to Johnny Benson, that required "No-Doze" to maintain interest. The July
Pepsi 400 race at Daytona did not improve the show. The shock absorber and
subsequent aerodynamic problem (nee: no passing) was still apparent.

NASCAR classifies their tracks into two categories: Short Track and
SuperSpeedways. They should really add a third category and call it:
Restrictor Plate Superspeedways. The Restrictor Plate Superspeedways are
Daytona and Talladega with the soon to be on-line Kansas City facility.
Restrictor plate racing has been criticized almost from the very day it
was proposed. None the less, restrictor plate racing is here to stay. So
the NASCAR officials were confronted with finding a way to make the cars
stick to the ground and at the same time make passing available.

The refreshing item about NASCAR is that they listen to the fans. When a
problem crops up they take action. The officials heard the grumbling about
the lack of passing from the fans and drivers alike after both the Daytona
500 and Pepsi 400 and took action. NASCAR knows that they are in the
motorsport entertainment business.

After the Daytona 500 the race officials began a long fact-finding task
that would eventually end up in wind tunnels to find the answer. The
"leading edge roof flap" as it would be called was implemented at the fall
race at Talladega. That design change provided one of the most exciting
NASCAR Winston Cup races of the decade. Forty-Nine lead changes among 21
drivers. It was as if NASCAR had watched the CART Michigan race where a
record 61 passes had occurred. Dale Earnhardt, the eventual winner, hurled
himself from the middle of the pack to take the victory. Earnhardt has
long been known as a major critic of restrictor-plate racing. However on
this particular day he found a way to draft and weave his way to victory
lane.

Now with the 2001 Daytona 500 only 14 weeks away, the emphasis has been to
improve the aerodynamic package. The teams will begin testing in earnest
in just a few more weeks. While the teams will work on all aspects of
their racing program the budget will be heavily weighted toward winning
that all important "Super Bowl of NASCAR" even if it was a bore last year.

The following titles and media identifications are trademarks
owned by The Auto Channel, LLC and have been in continuous use
since 1987: The Auto Channel, Auto Channel and TACH all have
been in continuous use world wide since 1987, in Print, TV,
Radio, Home Video, Newsletters, On-line, and other interactive
media; all rights are reserved and infringement will be acted
upon with force.